Railroad ballast-spreading device.



C. I. BAKER. RAILROAD BALLAST SPREADING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, IQIZ.

Patented July 18, 1916.

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rn'rnnr onnro CHARLES J. BAKER, or PUEBLO, COLORADO.

RAILROAD BALLAST-SPREADING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I 1 Patented July 18, 1916.

Application filed 'January Z, 1912. Serial No. 668,880.

My invention relates to improvements in a railroad ballast spreading device, in which a share is applied to the space between the rails and an adjacent portion is applied out side each rail, with means for ad usting thedevice so as to avoid interference with the ties and the obj ects of my invention are,first, to provide a means for distributing ballast equally between the rails of a railroad track and on the adjacent portions outside each rail; second, to dispose of the superfluous material; and, third, to provide economical means for displacing excess material from between the rails of a track. I attain these objects by the mechanisms illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of one end of a car with my device attached thereto, shown in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device attached to a car; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a side guide piece; and Fig. 4 is a front end view showing the relative position of the attachment and the coupling of the car.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several drawings.

On the car 1, preferably a flat or gondola car, is attached the bracket 3, which may be attached to desired parts of the car construction as to the draw bar or sills of the car; and bracket 4 is joined to the lower end of bracket 3 and passes through the floor of the car and is attached to the carrying beam 2, which may be attached by bolt means to the car. A share 15, having a sharp edge and filling approximately the space between the rails of the track, is slanted downward and has attached thereto a center guide 16, which guide is pointed and sloping upwardly so as to ride any obstruction. as for instance any tie' which might be higher than the other ties. At each side on the interior of the rails is another guide 21 similarlyshaped and having attached thereto a spring and adjusting means 22, attached pivotally at 23, and having pin means 24 for adjusting. A slot is provided in the guide 21 in which operates the boxing of the shaft 27, on which is a flanged wheel 28 adapted to ride the rail. The lug 25 is provided with a set screw 26 to aid in adjustment of the height of the flange piece 22. While I have provided the flange wheel 28, the portion 29 of the spring a 22 may be extended downwardly and the wheel 28 without flange attached on the exterior thereof and thereby the flange means would be provided by the'extension. A portion of the share is cut away at '17 and that partrides the rail while on the exterior side of each rail the portion 19 is extended to.

form the share on the outside of the rail and slants upwardly and back toward the mold board. The share 15 is slanted downwardly and forwardly from the line 30 being a line. approximately at the edge? of each of the exterior portions offthe share. Attached to the share and extending from the front backwardly to each side, is the mold board 20 be ing pointed'downwardl'y at the frontso as to be in close attachment to the sloping portion of the share. The plate bracket 18 is used to reinforce the share 19} and attach the same to the nose 17 that rides the rail. Suitable frame work and bracing are applied beneath the structure, although when properly made of steel plate, the various attach ments may be made thereto without some of the brackets which I have shown in the drawings to connect the mold board and share with bars and levers. In the space back of the mold board 20 and between the two parts thereof is the pivot attachment 12 for the arms 10. The whole of the share and mold board construction is attached pivotally at 13 to the brackets 3 and 1. The two arms 10 are disposed one on each side of the coupler 1 of the car. The end of the beam 2 is provided with a slot 8 in which may rest the end of lever 9. The pivot bars 5' are attached to the beam 2 pivotally at 7, one on each side of the beam 2, and pivotally at 6 on each side of the lever 9. The pivot bars 5 in operation and in the form of construction as I have shown, may rest upon the bolt 1, although this particular form of the fulcrum for lever 9 is not necessary to my invention. At the outer end of the lever 9 the bars 10 are attached pivotally at 11. At the inner end of the lever 9 are the holding means 31 for holding the lever 9 down, and the ballast spreader up from the track.

My device is adaptable to any ordinary car but preferably to a gondola or flat car in the manner above shown, and when it is desired to operate the device the lever 9 is released and the ballast spreader drops to the tracks and engages the rails. In the event that there should be a tie of an unusual height in the center or sides the guide points 16 and 21 lift the share clear of such obstruction at the same time the guides 21 with thespring bracket attachment 22 keep the share from engagement with the rails and provide means for passing curves in the track. The share 15 between the rails, and the shares 19 on the outside of the rails take up the ballast on a level with the ties and the same is forced back against the mold boards 20 and pushed off to each side of the track. It. will thus be seen that while this ballast spreader is designed primarily for spread ing ballast, it is equally useful in taking up the extra deposit of sand that occurs in desert or sandy countries and for the purpose of removing dirt or sand ballast that may have been placed on and which it is desired removed from the track. It will also be noticed that this device is adapted for attachment to a car, and the same may be put in a train, because means are provided for permitting the coupling to another car and the ballast spreader could be so used and without any delay the same may be elevated so that the train may be run without operat- Copies of this patent may be obtained for ing the ballast spreader. Of course, I have means to said share adjacent to the inside of the rail, said guide consisting of a shoe,

the bottom part of which is adapted to ride near and on the adjacent ties, the forward portion sloping upwardly; a spring housing attached to each of said shoes on the side adjacent to the rail; pin means adapted to ad just the relative height of said spring housing; screw means adapted to hold said bushing in position desired, and a flange wheel disposedbetween the rear, end of said spring housing on a shaft operating in said spring housing and said bushing adapted to engage the top of the rail all substantially as set forth.

W'itness my signature.

CHARLES J. BAKER.

Witnesses R. R. MILLER, MAUDE S. ENGLE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. (2. 

